ALH-Dhruv crashes in J-K | Experts say just grounding choppers won’t be enough but...

Defence officials were quoted by ANI as saying that the ALH Dhruv choppers "have been halted as a precautionary measure by the force." But is it a good option to weigh-in in such situations?

A senior defence official said, “There are reliability concerns here as well. The mere grounding of aircraft here won’t be enough. It is also crucial to understand the reasons behind technical glitch and also see if there is any defects from the manufacturing end.”

When asked about manufacturing-related aspects and reasons behind back-to-back incidents, a spokesperson from HAL said, "We are cognizant of the matter being reported but can’t reveal any details as of now since the military courts and concerned authorities from defence forces are already investigating the cases."

Defense experts said that such rising numbers of incidents occurring with ALH helicopters is a matter of concern. "As a part of standard operating procedure, the concerned authorities ground the operations of ALH choppers till precautionary checks are carried out and corrective measures are completed," said Group Captain Augustine Vinod (Retired) told CNBC-TV18.

"While the operations are grounded, maintenance and thorough checks are conducted only after which such choppers are permitted to resume their operations. It is imperative to fix accountability and with urgency, such incidents need to stop reasons behind such a crash and technical failures needs to be established,” Captain Augustine Vinod (Retired) said.

According to official statistics presented in Parliament by the Ministry of Defence, some 22 ALHs had crashed over the past two decades, in addition to many of them resulting in numerous emergency landings across the country. Parliament data shows that between 2017-2021, there were six reported incidents involving the ALH.

One Indian Navy Naval Dhruv made a controlled ditching at sea off the coast of Mumbai on March 8, after a sudden loss of power and rapid loss of height. The chopper was on a routine sortie with three personnel on board. It had to make an emergency landing off the Mumbai coast. The crew was rescued by a naval patrol aircraft. After this incident, the three services, including Army, Navy and Air Force and the coast guard, had grounded their entire fleets of ALH-DHRUV for a comprehensive safety check.

On March 28, (ALH-DHRUV) Mark 3 helicopter of the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) was forced to make a landing in Kerala's Kochi. The forced landing took place when the pilots of the force were testing the chopper. One person was injured when a Coast Guard helicopter crashed just after takeoff from its enclave at the Cochin International Airport Limited. The chopper was at around 25 feet when it had to make a forced landing.

Dhruv chopper find multiple usages and are very frequently operated by all three defence forces including the Army, Navy, and Air Force, alongside the Indian Coast Guard.

Indigenously designed and developed Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH-DHRUV) is a twin-engine, multi-role, multi-mission new generation helicopter in the 5.5-ton weight class.

The basic Helicopter is produced in the skid version and wheeled version.

Dhruv is “type –Certified” for Military operations by the Centre for Military Airworthiness Certification (CEMILAC) and for civil operations by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

More than 300 Dhruvs are operating with Indian Defence Forces.

Dhruv is being operated by Nepal Army, Mauritius Police & Maldives.

Dhruv is also being operated by Civil customers such as the government of Jharkhand and the Para-Military force (BSF).

The ALH Dhruv choppers are used in multiple roles by the Indian defence forces including transportation of men and material. The ALH Dhruv has become one of the important parts of helicopter missions undertaken by all three forces involved in different terrains they are deployed.

If sources are to be believed, out of 300 DHRUV choppers, around 145 are with the Indian Army, around 70 are with the IAF, 18 with the Indian Navy and 20 with the Indian Coast Guard.

Certification of the utility military variant was completed in 2002 and that of the civil variant was completed in 2004. The deliveries of production series helicopters commenced from 2001-02 onwards. A total of 336 Helicopters have been produced by October 2022.

1) Mk-I Conventional cockpit

2) MK-II & Mk-III Glass cockpit

3) MK-III Maritime Role (Navy/ Coast Guard)

4) MK-IV armed version